1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to a protocol for communicating errors in a computing system and, more particularly, to indicating programming errors in a processing unit when a program is run.
2. Description of the Related Art
Current graphics program compilers detect illegal instructions in programs to enable program debugging. However, some errors cannot be detected or prevented by graphics program compilers, such as single bit errors in random access memories (RAMs). More recently, graphics devices are configured to detect runtime errors, such as illegal operands that are not caught by the compiler and override the programmed state that causes an error using a default state to continue processing in a repeatable and predictable manner. This default error handling behavior can complicate debugging of the runtime errors since the device continues processing and information needed to debug the error is unavailable.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a system and method for improving the ability to debug runtime errors while allowing for the default error handling behavior.